QUICK NEWS, 3-16: U.S. WIND BUILDS U.S. JOBS; BRITS ANNOUCE BIG OCEAN ENERGY BUILD; MICH GETS NEXT-GEN BATTERY PLANT; PREZ READIES CLIMATE FIGHT

U.S. WIND BUILDS U.S. JOBS
U.S. and Foreign Wind Companies Create Good American Jobs; Wind energy needs stable policy support in the United States in order to keep creating jobs.
Lutz Weischer, March 16, 2010 (World Resources Institute)

"Recently there have been some questions in the media…and in the U.S. Senate about stimulus grants for wind energy projects going to foreign countries…Empirical evidence demonstrates that predictable support for wind power improves local manufacturing capacity and creates local jobs. Consistent support in the form of the stimulus and long term programs such as a Renewable Energy Standard will give investors the certainty they need to plan and create jobs in the United States…

"…As the state-level programs have grown more numerous and ambitious and the federal support has stabilized (the production tax credit has not been allowed to expire since 2005), the wind industry has experienced a period of rapid growth. In 2008 alone, 55 new facilities producing wind turbines and components opened and there are now a total of 85,000 jobs in the American wind industry, up from 50,000 in 2007…Of the 15 leading global wind turbine manufacturers, 11 operate production facilities in the US or plan to begin operating this year…[The Recovery Act] grant program has funneled more than $2.2 billion and has attracted $10 billion in foreign investment…"

Investment leads to a chain of economic impacts. (click to enlarge)

"…[E]very country that has put in place sufficiently large and predictable mechanisms to create demand for wind power has seen the increase of its domestic manufacturing capacity – and thus domestic jobs. That is mainly because regional production hubs close to installations sites are the most efficient way for the wind industry to organize its supply chain…[T]owers and blades are very heavy and expensive to transport…[T]he domestic content of turbines installed in the U.S. has risen from an average of less than 20 percent in the period 2001-06 to over 50 percent in 2008…

"…The United States does not yet have the capacity to produce every part for every wind project, but it can develop this…In West Texas, for example, American and Chinese companies are jointly developing a 600 megawatt wind farm with some parts supplied by a Chinese company. But 70 percent of the turbines used in the Texas project, including the blades and towers, will be manufactured in the U.S. Furthermore, they plan to build a new turbine plant in the U.S., creating 1,000 American manufacturing jobs. While their long term objective is a 100 percent American turbine, it will take time to ramp up manufacturing. Suspending the Renewable Grant Program could pull the rug out from under projects like this…"

These plants and many more, providing thousands of U.S. jobs, will be the outcome of sustained federal incentives. (click to enlarge)

"…[P]olicy makers should not assume that a foreign-owned company does not create jobs in the United States. First of all, grants go to domestic project developers, not turbine manufacturers. The developer will use part of that money—our working paper estimates around three quarters of it—to buy the equipment, including the turbine. But the rest of it is spent on other up-front costs: paying the project developer’s own staff, construction workers and engineers. In other words, at least 25 percent of a typical grant goes to directly creating American jobs. The other 75 percent may support some manufacturing abroad, but very likely will support U.S. manufacturing as well, especially as domestic capacity increases…

"A closer look reveals how the recent development of the U.S. wind market has been good for local job creation…With the new grant program, the U.S. is beginning to catch up, attracting foreign investment and building domestic manufacturing capacity. To continue on this path, long-term programs, such as a Renewable Energy Standard, would provide investors the certainty they need to plan. However, because it takes time to build local manufacturing capacity, companies will continue to source components globally to overcome local supply constraints and meet deadlines. That’s why the American Wind Energy Association and leading executives from the industry have come out with strong statements against Buy American provisions, saying they could slow down wind power deployment and job creation in the U.S…"


BRITS ANNOUCE BIG OCEAN ENERGY BUILD
'World's first' commercial wave and tidal energy projects planned for Scotland; The world’s first wave and tidal energy projects on a commercial scale are to be built off the Scottish coast, with developers claiming they have the potential to power 750,000 homes.
Simon Johnson, 16 March 2010 (UK Telegraph)

"The Crown Estate announced 10 schemes capable of generating up to 1.2 gigawatts (GW) of electricity would be built around the Orkney Islands and on the Pentland Firth, off the northern coast of the Scottish mainland.

"They are expected to cost £4 billion to install and will require up to £1 billion more of taxpayers’ money to build new grid connections, harbours and other structural facilities in Orkney and Caithness…[T]he power companies awarded the contracts insisted their 2020 completion date…[is feasible]…"

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"Alex Salmond, the Scottish First Minister, said the announcement confirmed his prediction that Scotland will become the ‘Saudi Arabia of marine energy’ thanks to the strong tides and currents off its coast…Roger Bright, chief executive of the Crown Estate, said the 10 projects have the capacity to generate four times the electricity of Scotland’s former nuclear power station at Dounreay in Caithness…

"The Crown Office announced the successful bidders for the projects after receiving bids from 20 companies for 42 sites…Six sites have been allocated for wave energy developments potentially generating 600 megawatts (MW) of power and four for tidal projects, also generating 600 MW."

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"Three major power firms, E.ON, Scottish and southern Energy (SSE) Renewables, which already operates the UK's largest hydro schemes, and Scottish Power Renewables will [spearhead] the larger of the 10 schemes…Some are in conjunction with leading marine energy firms, who will also develop two smaller schemes on their own.

"Pelamis Wave Power will build a wave power scheme in the Pentland Firth capable of generating 50MW and also work with SSE and Scottish Power at three other 50MW sites…SSE has also chosen OpenHydro tidal machines built by Cantick Head Tidal for a 200MW development…Aquamarine will build a new version of its Oyster wave power machine for a 200MW station for SSE…SeaGen tidal machines…will be installed…[at] a 100MW site…"


MICH GETS NEXT-GEN BATTERY PLANT
Plan unveiled for battery plant in Holland
Jewel Gopwani, March 12, 2010 (Detroit Free Press)

"Korean battery maker LG Chem and its U.S. subsidiary Compact Power…[will] build a $303-million plant to make lithium-ion battery cells for electric vehicles, including the Chevrolet Volt.

"The plant, which will break ground this summer, is slated to be up and running in 2012. By 2013, LG Chem expects to have hired 400 people for the plant…The factory will be able to make enough lithium-ion battery cells for between 50,000 and 200,000 vehicle battery packs…"

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"LG Chem's new 650,000 thousand square-foot lithium-ion battery plant is one of four projects under way in Michigan that are using federal grants meant to jumpstart advanced battery production in the U.S…The vast majority of advanced battery cells are made in Japan, Korea and China…

"To build the plant LG Chem secured a $151.4-million grant from the Department of Energy. An incentive package from the state includes a $100-million advanced battery cell tax credit and a $25.2-million tax credit for job creation over 15 years."

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"The City of Holland expects LG Chem to use 70 acres in the city…The city is purchasing an additional 50 acres from adjacent Fillmore Township for more than $800,000 to sell to LG Chem for the project…

"Johnson Controls, through its joint venture with French battery company Saft, is retrofitting a lithium-ion battery factory in Holland…A123 Systems and Dow Kokam also plan to build advanced batteries in Michigan."


PREZ READIES CLIMATE FIGHT
White House report cites gaps in climate change strategy; Improved risk assessments, more scientific study and better coordination between federal and local governments are needed, the report says
Jim Tankersley, March 15, 2010 (LA Times)

"The federal government has ‘significant gaps’ in its strategy to cope with the increasing effects of climate change on the country, according to a White House report…[that] will call for better risk assessments, more thorough scientific research and improved coordination of federal and local governments in order to handle the effects of warming temperatures…

"The report urges federal agencies to fundamentally change how they plan for the future, by factoring the potential risks and opportunities of a changing climate into their decision-making. It also advises agencies to rely less on historical climate data when making plans for transportation, energy, infrastructure and natural resource use."

You don't need a weatherman to notice the world's climate is already changing. (click to enlarge)

"The task force that produced the report includes the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the Office of Science and Technology Policy and representatives from nearly every corner of the federal government."

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"The report comes at a time when global warming skeptics are increasingly criticizing the science of climate change, fueled by a string of controversies surrounding leading climate scientists…President Obama has asked the task force to lay the groundwork, by this fall, for an explicit federal strategy to adapt to climate change…The draft report is a first step in that process and is light on specific recommendations…"

[From the report:] "…[Adapting to warming temperatures] will require a set of thoughtful, preventative actions, measures and investments to reduce the vulnerability of our natural and human systems to climate change impacts… [that are] affecting, and will continue to affect, nearly every aspect of our society and the environment…[Impacts are already] affecting the ability of federal agencies to fulfill their missions…"